The simple past tense

 Meaning & Use

Form (structure)
Exercise
 Meaning & Use
When do we use the Simple Past tense?
 We use the Simple Past to express the
idea that an action started and finished at a
specific time in the past.
What are some common time expressions
used with the past tense?

In 1980 last month

la st w
yesterday
ago

ee
last year

k
Examples:
I saw Maria yesterday.

Last Friday, the students took their

spelling and vocabulary tests.

They got married two years ago.

These actions
are over, finished!
How do we form the simple past tense . . .?

English has two

taughtirregular
types of verbs in the 
past tense:
 walkedregular
 Regular verbs
 studiedregular
 Irregular verbs
 gave irregular
Look at the  becameirregular
following list of
past tense verbs…  cried regular
which verbs are  lived
regular
regular, and  did
irregular
which are
Regular verbs are verbs that
….
…end with –
ed
Simple Form Past Tense
Walk walk ed
Study studi ed
Cry cri ed
Live
liv ed
Irregular verbs are verbs
that . . . .
…DON’T end with –ed
some irregular verbs
Have a vowel change in the past
tense:
Simple Form Past
Tense
Examples

become became
give gave
drive drove
forget forgot
 other irregular verbs
Have a different kind of change:
Examples:
Simple Past
teach taught
bring brought
Leave left
Hear heard
Buy
bought
Celia bought a new computer last weeke
And some irregular verbs
don’t change at all . . .
examples:
Simple Past
hit hit
put put
set set

The children set the table every

Sunday.
The children set the table last night.
 For regular verbs, simply use the –ed form of the
verb in a positive sentence.

played
When I was a child, I ___________ the piano. (play)

Donna ______________
visited Paris. (visit)

**Be careful with

 For irregular verbs, use the correct
past tense form in positive
sentences. (We use the same form with different
subjects .)

Unfortunately, these forms must be memorized!

sent
Last week, I ___________ you a letter.
(send)

had

The students
did __________an English
exam. (have) They _______ a great job!
(do)
For negative sentences, USE

DiD Not verb,

or + base
Form
didn't
(Infinitive)
I went to work
yesterday.
I didn’t go to work
yesterday.
 Exception =
VERB BE!
The verb be is special.
Never use DID NOT or DIDN’T
with the verb BE. Instead, just
use:
Was
or + not

were
For Yes/No questions, USE

verb,
DiD subject + base
+
Form
(Infinitive)
Did you go to work
yesterday?
Did you come
yesterday?
Put the verbs (between brackets) into the correct
form (simple past).

Last year, I (spend) ________my

spent
holiday in Ireland.
was
It (be)
________great.
travelledI (travel)___________
around the city by car with two
visited
friends and we (visit) ________lots of
interesting Go places. In the evenings,
we usually were
(go)_______ to a café.
We (be) ________very didn’tlucky
rain with
the weather.
saw It (not / rain)___________
a lot. We(see) ________some
had
beautiful rainbows.
Sources:

 http://www.authorstream.com/Presentat
ion/bbogage-11679-simple-past-tense-e
ducation-ppt-powerpoint/
 http://www.slideshare.net/LALA28/the-
past-simple-ppt-presentation